Finance training

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What is it?

A half-day online workshop getting to grips with the basics of how money works when you are a freelancer or small business. We can also run this as a half-day or full-day in-person course.

See also our in-depth Beyond Redundancy: Setting up as a Sole Trader courses. These small-group workshops are run across two mornings or a full day and are for people moving from employment to self-employment.

Who’s it for?

Perfect for someone who’s a creative freelancer, whether new or experienced. We work a lot with people who are setting up on the own after redundancy.

We assume you’d prefer to hide under the duvet than do your expenses, so we go gently through ways of looking after money without getting bogged down in paperwork.

We don’t assume you know about tax, or even how to count without using fingers and toes.

What’s in it?

Areas covered in the workshop are:

  • how to budget in your personal life when working freelance
  • tax and national insurance for sole traders and limited companies
  • how to save time on paperwork
  • how to prepare for HMRC’s Making Tax Digital project
  • what an accountant can (and can’t) do for you
  • getting paid on time
  • planning to think like a business

What do you get out of it?

Handouts and templates galore! And reassurance that finance isn’t as hard as all that.

We also give you support on the phone or by email if you get stuck at any point in the future.

What’s so special?

It’s fun. We know most creative people are a bit frightened of tax and money matters. We take the fear out of it all and show how you can enjoy thinking like a business.

We also provide a secure website with downloadable tip sheets and templates, including how to invoice and how to keep records of tax-deductible expenses.

About the trainer

David Thomas has helped thousands of trainees hone their finance skills since 2005. His background is in journalism and production, and he ran a couple of BBC departments before setting up his business.

Read more about David

Want to find out more?

Future courses are listed below.

If you can’t see what you’re looking for just get in touch and ask. We’ll be happy to help.

Contact us here

Fri 04Apr2025

Setting up as a Sole Trader (full-day workshop with breaks)

Small group training for creative people going through redundancy and/or wanting to set up a business of their own. This interactive course runs across the day using Zoom.

From 10:00 until 4:30pm

Click to find out more >

Tue 06May2025

Setting up as a Sole Trader (full-day workshop with breaks)

Small group training for creative people going through redundancy and/or wanting to set up a business of their own. This interactive course runs across the day using Zoom.

From 10:00 until 4:30pm

Click to find out more >

The whole workshop was excellent – really thorough and detailed.
BBC TraineeSetting up as a Sole Trader

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